Associations
by Lilec Hamira Amdciez
Summary: At the international briefing that L gives concerning the Kira case, he sees a familiar face through the not-too-terrible resolution of his web-cam. Not case-fic. Not slash. Not-so-proper time line.


**_content edited as of April 11, 2011; author's notes untouched.  
_**

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**Warning: Time line may be inaccurate. No, scratch that. Time line is most definitely inaccurate.**

Five members of the BAU file silently into the dim room. It is about the size and shape of a college lecture hall, and it is occupied not by college students but by representatives of international law enforcement agencies.

International incidents were the most complex, though the young Doctor Spencer Reid, his mindset having shifted to professional the moment they were handed the files of what was now being referred to as "The Kira Case.'' They had read the files, and they agreed that this was the work of a serial killer, a house cleaner to be specific, perhaps the most prolific since the baroness Erzaveta Bathory centuries ago.

As they take their places, a man in a trench coat whose hat covers his face walks toward the front where he begins to set up a laptop and webcam. This act pulls at an old memory of Dr. Reid's from almost a decade ago; a memory of an orphanage filled with children of ages who had around the same level of intelligence as the youngest member of the team, some almost skyrocketingly (yes, he knows this isn't an actual word in the English language) higher, others just barely below his own. What happens next is one of the few times he ever felt de ja vu. A solid black 'L', written in either Cloister Black or Old London, fills both the screen of the laptop and almost the entire wall behind it thanks to the use of a projector.

And as the man in the coat steps away, and a mechanical voice greets the room "Hello," Dr. Reid gapes. In fact, most of the room gapes. Their gapes are those of surprise and everyone is thinking something along the lines of "_the _L is working this case?" Dr. Reid is also thinking this, but it is also mixed with the thought, "this was bound to happen someday."

The mechanical voice fills the room, just like the voice of a lecturer would, and as their shock wears off, the ones present begin to scribble their notes, writing down L's theories, his instructions. If any of them disapprove, they don't speak up. The team of five also write their notes, Dr. Reid trusting that his memory would keep all the information.

Half-way through this briefing (he is tempted to call it a lecture), L stops; the crowd's almost immediate response is that of nervousness. Then when L speaks again, it is to one person:

"Oh, hello, Spencer. I didn't expect to see you here."

To the wittier minds in the room, Dr. Reid appears to be the personification of the word 'stunned.' His brow is raised, his mouth slightly open, and his body language seems to be saying only one word, 'wow.'

"Did you think I wouldn't notice you, sitting all the way in the back like that," L says. The phrase would have perhaps sounded inquisitive and imploring had the voice not been altered.

"Hello, L," he says courteously. He can feel the smart guy tone that he uses when he tries to make himself sound even smarter than an IQ of 189 creeping into his voice. He used that tone a lot when he was in London.

Now the other four of his team in the room, Jason Gideon in particular, gaze at the young doctor, their expressions making it clear that there would be a lot of questions to answer after this.

"He _knows_ you?" Derek Morgan hisses, mostly inaudible to the web-cam.

This, like most everything else, does not escape the notice of the man on the other side of the feed. (Every inch of the room has most probably been bugged.) "Your coworkers don't know?" asks L.

"No," says Reid, "It is not a time I enjoy reminiscing."He can almost imagine L nodding at this statement (almost, because he has never actually seen his face) and sees it fit not to add that they, the children, were clearly told _not _to mention Whammy's House to anyone.

"Perhaps we shall talk again sometime."

"Perhaps."

L then continues to address the crowd, saying a few more things before bidding them all good day and disconnecting, just as the man in the coat approaches the front again to reclaim the laptop.

"Kid, you've got a some explaining to do."

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**Author's Note:** The idea for this came to me years ago after reading the spin-off, the Los Angeles BB Murder Case. The five members mentioned are Reid, Gideon, Morgan, Hotch, and, because I figured it would be more realistic and less implausible, Elle Greenaway. Tell me what you think, because I'm really unsure about this one.


End file.
